Research Agenda for Floods to Solve Policy Failure

For the first 60 yr of the 20th Century, the U.S. policy regarding floods was aimed at flood control. In the past 15 yr, policy has shifted to a goal of flood hazard mitigation. However, flood losses continue to rise and the Congress and others have raised questions about the causes of policy failure. The answer is complicated because flood policy involves 4 currently changing issues, including the shift from federal to local–state responsibilities; the National Flood Insurance Program; the shift to nonstructural approaches for flood mitigation; and developing programs for emergency assistance. A comprehensive assessment of flood research needs reveals that policy must have a view of efficient use of flood plains, not just loss reduction. The socioeconomic data base is considered inadequate for many policy decisions, and our knowledge of floods is uneven, with much more known in the physical sciences than in the social sciences. Attention to interdisciplinary research involving economists, sociologists, political scientists, and geographers is needed if better policy making and flood hazard mitigation are to be achieved.